Dwarf Association seeks land to build village for them

 Kathmandu, July 29: Inspired from the Amar Village of Assam, India, and similar settlements in other nations, short-statured people in Nepal are demanding a separate village for themselves to live with love and dignity.

The Dwarf Association of Nepal (DAN), which has 200 members, has raised this demand and is currently looking for land to establish a comfortable community for dwarfs.

Social worker Shant Sharma has been working with DAN to find a suitable plot for this. “It is difficult for short-limbed people to go about their lives in structures made for taller people. So, we are requesting local levels to provide land to build a befitting settlement,” he shared.

Sharma informed that would cost an estimated Rs. 10 million to build structures, including homes for 28 families of people with dwarfism and separate homes for single men and women. “We have in talks with the Tarakeshwor Municipality to obtain the land. A detailed budget can only be finalised after getting the plot,” he said.

DAN was an associated founded in 2008 to unite dwarfs across the nation. The Association works to solve problems people of short stature face every day and make them self-reliant, shared Samita Kumari Dulal ‘Binda’, who is its president. 

Binda, also a dwarf, explained that they faced many challenges and health problems due to a lack of appropriate structures. She informed that they could not rent rooms or houses easily, struggled to reach door knobs and water faucets and faced problems in lavatories. “We are forced to live in a world designed for tall people,” she expressed her sadness.

“From hospitals to banks to public vehicles, we are at a disadvantage everywhere,” Krishna Prasad Shrestha ‘Nishchal’, secretary of the Association, said.

He told The Rising Nepal that dwarfism caused many health problems that required frequent hospital visits. “But the government has not provided any facilities to us,” he lamented. “We also do not have a disability identity card.”

Nishchal claimed that a dwarf village would benefit the nation too as in India, China and other countries, they have proved to be a tourist attraction.

The Government of Nepal defines a dwarf as an individual with a height of or less than four feet and 47 inches. DAN has its own criteria of four feet and 52 inches.

Nishchal said that there was no data on the exact number of dwarves in the country which has created hurdles in making policies.